Premiere: Piotr Cisak – Venus Express (Strahinja Arbutina Remix)

When people, typically of an older persuasion, turn their noses up at music that isn’t pleasant in a conventional or traditional sense, it eyes rolling. After all, art should be able to express and convey a wide range of moods, emotions and personalities. Sure it can be obnoxious, but theres plenty of room for the abrasive alongside the inviting. Bristol-based label Tutamen certainly seem to agree, releasing distorted, noise-infected electronics in vinyl, cassette and digital formats on a regular basis. Descending into the abyss on their next offering is Polish producer Piotr Cisak, but it’s the remix from Low Income $quad’s Strahinja Arbutina that really caught our ear.

A brief exchange of kick and snare hints at something in a similar vein to Cisak’s originals, but the Strahinja Arbutina reinterpretation hinges on an acrid jungle drum loop. The decayed, grubby bassline and haunting electronics threaten ominously without ever establishing themselves as the main attraction, coalescing beneath fluid breakbeat patterns as ‘Venus Express’ transforms from amorphous techno workout to menacing roller – it’s worlds away from the new age pads and carefully arranged drum arrangements heard on a lot of the productions to fall under the banner of the so-called jungle renaissance we’re currently enjoying. As previously mentioned, a bit of variety is always welcome.